Chapter 262: Nested Fire Seed

"Xu Xiaoshou?!"

When the young man removed his straw hat, and that familiar face appeared before him, Li Qi suddenly realized the truth.

The person who came was actually Xu Xiaoshou?

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, instinctively turning his head towards the Black Street Spirit Array.

How could a mere Yuan Court stage cultivator walk out of his Grandmaster-level "Great Fence Illusion Array"?

Recalling the young man's casual stroll just moments ago, Li Qi's heart was filled with surging waves of shock.

He had thought this kid wouldn't be simple, but to so easily break his "Great Fence Illusion Array," could this guy also be a Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays?

Xu Xiaoshou was, of course, not a Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays.

He could see through illusions purely because of his passive divine skill: "Perception."

The moment his spiritual sense was trapped and he became completely lost after leaving the back door, honestly, he was a bit flustered too.

But then, the dual images that appeared in his mind were like that day he peeked... no, watched... no, spied...

Uh, in essence, it was similar to the scene of Rao Yinyin emerging from the hot spring that day.

By following the second layer of vision, he walked straight out.

At the table, the face-to-face shock seemed to freeze the air. The wine Xu Xiaoshou had just spat out dripped from Li Qi's face.

With a 'drip,' he finally reacted.

It was too late. Xu Xiaoshou had seized this fleeting moment.

He pulled out "Hidden Suffering" and directly swung it at Li Qi's head.

But in that flash of lightning, the world seemed to momentarily stand still. Only after Xu Xiaoshou's sword blade swept past did he realize Li Qi's figure had already retreated rapidly.

"Grandmaster?"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes narrowed. "Heavenly Phenomenon Realm?"

That momentary pause just now was clearly the world itself providing assistance. If not for that pause, Li Qi would have been beheaded by him.

Only a Grandmaster-level expert could harness the power of heaven and earth to such an extent.

Back then, Zhang Xinxiong, a Grandmaster for a single breath, was directly cut down by Ah Jie's blade, so he hadn't seen the true power of a Grandmaster.

Now, with this single strike, he could discern the vast difference between a Grandmaster and a Xiantian realm cultivator.

That momentary pause, if it occurred at a critical moment in a life-or-death battle, a Xiantian realm cultivator would absolutely be unable to turn the tide!

Xu Xiaoshou silently retracted his sword and chuckled, "Brother Li, why the sudden retreat? I merely wanted to wipe the wine off you; I just picked up the wrong item just now."

He pulled out gauze from his ring, motioning with his hand, "Come over here!"

Li Qi's legs went weak, and his face turned ashen.

That sneak attack was more like an assassin than even an assassin.

If he hadn't been assassinating all year round, with a reaction time a fraction faster than others, he might have lost his life and all his abilities right here!

Although he still couldn't believe Xu Xiaoshou was at this level, that single strike just now had forced him to believe. He took a deep breath...

"Imperial Guards?!"

But Xu Xiaoshou, timing it perfectly, suddenly looked towards the Spirit Array with a horrified expression.

"They're here so fast?"

Li Qi's heart tightened. Before he could even turn his head to look, five extremely powerful energy fire seeds shot towards him.

"Holy hell!"

This kid's grasp of human psychology in dangerous moments was simply uncanny; calling him a professional assassin wouldn't even be an exaggeration.

Even though he knew Xu Xiaoshou was lying, his heart still skipped a beat for that one second.

Facing these five compressed fire seeds, Li Qi knew that if they exploded, the Imperial Guards would truly come ceaselessly.

He immediately threw out one of the array plates in his hand, not towards the compressed fire seeds, but towards the ground.

Buzz—

An enclosed silencing barrier instantly formed, directly enveloping both him and Xu Xiaoshou.

This array plate was always essential whenever he killed someone.

The reason, naturally, was to prevent enemies from self-detonating or calling for help before death.

After doing all this, Li Qi looked at the fire seeds before him and finally let out a cold laugh.

"Wind's Demise, Dissolve!"

With a shout, Li Qi raised his right hand high, his elbow pointing into the void, and pale blue ripples spread out.

Profound power of heaven and earth spread, like a flower blooming in the air, or waves rippling across the sea.

When the compressed fire seeds touched these pale blue ripples, their high-speed trajectory slowed sharply as if entering cotton, finally stopping several feet away from Li Qi.

That wasn't all!

The compressed fire seeds, suspended in the void, were continuously eroded by the pale blue ripples, their energy gradually changing from violent to gentle.

Finally, they completely dissolved!

"What the hell is that?"

Xu Xiaoshou was startled. This was the first time his compressed fire seeds had been directly intercepted during a sneak attack.

A spiritual technique of this level was at least Grandmaster-grade, and its bizarre and tricky nature should even rank high among Grandmaster spiritual techniques!

"Wind attribute, Grandmaster, Spirit Array Master..."

Xu Xiaoshou instantly realized that he was no longer in the Spirit Palace.

The people he would face next, whether present or future, were all those who had survived countless battles and lived on the edge of death.

Extremely troublesome!

Can't be careless!

His Blazing Robe instantly enveloped his entire body. Even with a Grandmaster-level physique, Xu Xiaoshou dared not be overconfident.

The pale blue ripples spread in a circular motion. The compressed fire seeds only blocked one side; the others hit Xu Xiaoshou directly in the blink of an eye.

Puff, puff!

The Blazing Heavenly Flames seemed to sense something and immediately ignited around him.

However, wind was still wind—formless and intangible. How much could it burn?

Xu Xiaoshou only felt a refreshing sensation on his face, almost groaning in comfort.

But the dissolving power carried by those pale blue ripples actually penetrated directly through the Blazing Robe, decaying his physical body!

"Even a Grandmaster's physique can't withstand the power of this spiritual technique?"

Xu Xiaoshou said, alarmed. He could see it wasn't that the Grandmaster physique wasn't strong, but rather that the spiritual technique's attack method was too strange.

The wind was all-pervasive!

The pain on his body didn't cause Xu Xiaoshou's movements to falter in the slightest, but if this continued, even his internal organs might melt!

"How do I deal with this?"

Compared to Xu Xiaoshou's surprise, Li Qi's expression was one of extraordinary shock.

His "Falling Astral Azure Wind" could instantly wear down even those compressed fire seeds, yet it was progressing so slowly against this young man's physical body.

What kind of damn joke is this?!

Could this kid's body actually be more violent and harder than that energy?

However, in the next second, something even more astonishing occurred.

Xu Xiaoshou opened his mouth, took a sharp inhale, and actually completely sucked away all the "Falling Astral Azure Wind" in front of him!

Li Qi: ???

What demonic art is this?

"Received Suspicion, Passive Points +1."

"Received Curse, Passive Points +1."

Before he could react, Xu Xiaoshou's puffed-out chest and belly deflated, and a black energy bead suddenly appeared at his lips.

The bead was tiny, only about the size of two fingernails.

As for why it was two...

Once Li Qi saw clearly, his face immediately turned ashen white.

That black energy bead was astonishingly the compressed fire seed from earlier, but inside this one, there was another one nested!

"Holy hell, are you kidding me?!" Li Qi's voice was distorted.